Darkness.
It's too dark
My ear keeps ringing. Some one is saying something.
It's distant, I can't hear a thing clearly.
My brain feels foggy, I can't think straight.
'Help'
Fangs.
'they must not find us!'
That was the sentence I could make out of it.
------
I woke up and the first thing I noticed was the smell, that sharp sanitized hospital scent that practically slapped your nose. The second thing was the stiffness in my left arm and the dull throb radiating from my ankle.
sigh...
Great. Broken, bruised, and smelling like alcohol wipes
I opened my eyes and saw the hospital's white ceiling. My head started to hurt when I tried to remember what happened exactly. I stopped.
The doctor that saved my life came into my ward, I couldn't really move, I turned my head slowly, cause even my neck was protesting and saw her.
"He's awake.", I was hoping subconsciously that she would sound relieved, but no. It sounded like a report. And that stung. I heard the familiar voice of my mom. She was standing there with her arms crossed, like a statue of someone who forgot to move. Her eyes were sharp, still in her office blouse like she came here straight from work
"Can you see me, Mr. Ishikawa?"
"How many fingers do you see?"
"3..." I groaned. I felt a sharp pain in my chest when I spoke, turns out I broke a rib too.
I looked down and my left arm was in a sling. My right ankle was wrapped in enough bandage to qualify as a mummy. And my chest... yeah, definitely broke a rib or two. Breathing hurt. Laughing was off the table. Sneezing would probably kill me.
The doctor had a look on her face that could say 'you're lucky to be alive' in a hundred different way.
"You got lucky, Mr. Ishikawa. It's a miracle. You lost a lot of blood during the trauma before you got to the hospital, and we had to initiate an emergency transfusion, but there wasn't your blood type available at the moment, It's normally not easy to find a donor of AB negative... It was a risky situation. We couldn't go to the blood bank to get some because there was not much time left and you wouldn't be able to hold on 'til then, and right then, someone volunteered to donate and you were able to survive. We could have lost you.
"Nothing else is major, only a fractured rib, a sprained ankle, and a minor break in your arm, she said. "You'll need to stay here for a few days, minimum, you really are lucky, Kai."
'wow. I... I really almost died'
My heart skipped a beat for a moment as I suddenly became aware of how close I came to ceasing to exist... If that donor hadn't appeared at that moment, would they have started my funeral?...
"the donor chose to remain anonymous?"
"yes, you need to rest to speed up your recovery, we will need to run some tests later."
"okay, but... is there no way for me to thank the donor? I owe him my life. I have to at least thank him since I'm alive thanks to him"
"I don't think so, because he left after donating his blood"
"Is that so?..."
"Reis!...", I suddenly remembered I was with him when the accident happened.
"what about my friend? we were together when the accident occurred."
"Oh, the other young man is fine, he didn't get hurt as much as you did. He is in the other ward at the left."
"I'm glad nothing happened to him."
"He was also lucky." The doctor said with a smile and left.
That word again. Lucky.
"You should be careful all the time. How were you so careless that you caused an accident? Do you wish to end your life??", My mom scolded me coldly.
"I'm your son," I looked at her in the eyes, tears started to form but I forced them back.
"I got hurt. It was an accident."
"At least pretend to be a little worried." My voice was dry and a little shaky.
My mom stood there for a while without replying.
"Get well soon." she said before turning to leave.
I turned my head to the side and caught a glimpse of my reflection in the hospital window. My skin looked way more pale and my eyes looked darker... somehow?
And for a moment -just a flash- I saw something shimmer inside them.
Like silver.
I blinked. And it was gone.
"What was that??".